One group of Israeli protestors thanked Obama for supporting the “Israeli Apartheid State” on his recent visit. So did Obama achieve anything other than bolstering the US/Israel relationship which gives Israel billions to arm itself to the teeth and occupy and confiscate Palestinian territory at will?
One thing has happened since is that Israel has made an apology to Turkey of some kind for the deaths of 9 Turkish activists in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara was attacked en route to Gaza. A report claims that Israel needs some friends to avoid total isolation in the region. It appears that it was a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu from Obama which brokered the deal. What’s on the other end of the deal we can only imagine. A strike by Israel on Iran? One thing is certain it won’t be cheap, and Palestinians remain under blockade in Gaza, their properties at risk from confiscation by Israeli authorities or constant attack from extremist Zionist settlers.
On the israeli side the visit was highly orchestrated as Obama was given a history lesson as he visited the holy sites of Israel’s past. Palestine has no part in this, and if those like Daniel Pipes is to be believed no future.
Through the visit Obama addressed both Palestinians and Israelis. On the one hand he emphasised that the Jewish state of Israel was inviolable “as the strongest state in the region” backed up by the power of the United States. On the other he spoke of peace and a two state solution. Seizure of Palestinian land was counterproductive if that was to become a reality.
So Israel will continue to occupy territory and seize Palestinian land. It is now so small and fragmented that the idea of a separate state is unimaginable as things stand. A withdrawal to the 1967 borders, once touted widely, seems highly improbable.
I can think of nowhere where states become overtly religious where there is room for people to thrive in equality. People of different background and beliefs can and do coexist, and have done for centuries. Political intervention quickly undermines this so sectarianism takes over. The precondition of a religious state, whether Jewish, Islamic or Christian cannot lead to people living together in harmony. Obama’s message to uphold a state devoted to one exclusive group will not work here or anywhere else. He came and went satisfied with a token gesture, otherwise business as usual.